Microsoft's Windows 8: Here's what we now know - Windows 8

Windows 8 will work on any PC that can run Windows 7, whether it is a touch-enabled device or not.

Windows 8 still supports stylus/digital ink and voice-input. Even though it is “touch-centric,” Windows 8 will enable user input using keyboards and mice. The pen is optional and not a requirement.

The user experience default is the tile interface that looks and feels a lot like the Windows Phone one. The “legacy”/desktop experience is accessed via a Desktop tile on users’ Windows 8 systems. There are not two different Windows 8 “modes” or user interfaces. The tile interface is the only interface and the “classic” interface is available as an application.

HTML5, JavaScript and CSS aren’t the only way to develop Windows 8 apps. Developers can still use Visual Basic, C, C#, C++, .Net, Silverlight and XAML to write both “modern” (or what is now officially known as “Metro-style” apps) and line-of-business “Desktop” apps. The emphasis at Build — and going forward at Microsoft, in my view — is on Metro-style apps, however, preferably written in HTML5 and JavaScript.

There’s going to be a Windows Store that will be populated with new Metro-style apps, alongside existing desktop apps. In the store, some apps will be directly downloadable; others will be links that redirect to app developers’ own sites for download

Microsoft is adding new/more HTML5 tooling support to Visual Studio “11″ (a k a Visual Studio 2012) and the coming version of its Expression Blend design tool.

Microsoft will make Windows 8 available on a USB stick. This new “Windows to Go” capability, rumored for years, is aimed at business users who need to deploy Windows 8 on numerous PCs.